Born into a New England family of more scholarly writers, I migrated, in my teens, to San Francisco and the San Francisco Art Institute for a planned career as a visual artist. My art works included a twelve-foot triptych in oils, several smaller pieces, and time spent (briefly) as a commercial artist. Having a restless nature, I wanted the art to move, a desire that evolved into building and performing shows with handmade marionettes, hand puppets, and shadow puppets.

This morphed into working with people instead of puppets, and I spent many years in live theater, writing and producing shows with the talented actors and musicians of the American Dream Players. That, in turn, led to writing and performing stories for public radio, all of which has led to writing novels that include comic, romantic, and suspenseful elements.